Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production from water–methanol mixture using cerium and nonmetals (B/C/N/S) co-doped titanium dioxide

In the present study, photocatalytic hydrogen production from water/methanol solution was investigated over cerium and nonmetal (B/C/N/S) co-doped titanium dioxide catalyst under visible light irradiation. The cerium and nonmetal co-doped titania photocatalysts were prepared by co-precipitation and characterized by surface area and pore size analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, diffuse reflectance UV–Vis spectroscopy analysis, and photoluminescence analysis. The UV–Visible spectra showed that incorporation of cerium and nonmetals to TiO2 resulted in narrow band gap and improved absorption of visible light. The band gap energy of co-doped samples depended on the properties of nonmetals. Photoluminescence studies showed that the radiative recombination rates of photogenerated electron–hole pairs were effectively suppressed by the addition of cerium and nonmetals and contributed to higher activity. The highest hydrogen production of 206 μmol/h was obtained for Ce–N–TiO2 sample, which can be attributed to the higher surface area, higher absorption of visible light, and higher separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs in Ce–N–TiO2.